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Chicago Is Home To The Most Popular Tour In America

By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 15, 2017 3:10PM

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Chicago Architecture River Cruise / TripAdvisor

No, it's not the Brianna and Jaelin Walking Tour. But good guess.

Still, the most popular tour excursion in the States finds its home right here in Chicago—at least as far as one travel-planner site's data. Higher than the site's Statue of Liberty deal, higher than New York's hop-on/hop-off bus tour, the Chicago Architecture River Cruise ranks Number One overall (and, also, helps assuage that pesky second-city complex).

The TripAdvisor ranking refers specifically to the Shoreline Sightseeing-hosted tour, although we also of course highly recommend the Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise. There are a few options out there, as Chicagoans well know.

Apparently, there was something of pattern to the top-placing finishers. "The three most popular tour types in in the U.S. are those enabling travelers to broadly explore destinations, such as day trips, hop-on hop-off tours and day cruises," said Brooke Ferencsik, senior director of communications for TripAdvisor, in a release.

The Top 10:
1) Chicago Architecture River Cruise, Chicago, Illinois
2) Grand Canyon West Rim and Hoover Dam Day Tour, Las Vegas, Nevada
3) Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour, Las Vegas, Nevada
4) Muir Woods, Giant Redwoods and Sausalito Half-Day Trip, San Francisco, California
5) Napa and Sonoma Wine Country Tour, San Francisco, California
6) Big Apple Helicopter Tour, New York City
7) Big Bus New York Hop-On Hop-Off Tour
8) Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Guided Tour, New York City, New York
9) San Francisco Hop-on Hop-off Tour
10) Las Vegas Helicopter Night Flight, Las Vegas, Nevada

Related: 50+ Great Places To Take Your Parents When They Visit Chicago